Let’s keep our cultural heritage alive guys!
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recently officially listed two of Malaysia’s cultural heritage within the list of Intagible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. As reported by national news agency, Bernama, the listing were made through a multinational nomination whereby pantun was nominated alongside Indonesia while the wangkang ceremony was nominated alongside the People’s Republic of China.
The Wangkang ceremony performed in Melaka.
In case you didn’t know, the wangkang or barge festival had existed in Melaka since 1854. It is a procession of ships inviting wandering souls, evil spirits and other negative elements where they will then be sent away into the unknown. The Chinese community believes that the effort was to bring peace, prosperity and happiness to a certain place.
Meanwhile, Pantun is an old Malay poem that usually consists of four lines in each stanza. The first two lines are hints and the other two carries the actual meaning.
Contestants during the 2018 National Pantun Competition.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said,
“This decision was announced on Dec 17 during the 15th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage which is ongoing until Dec 19.”
Furthermore, she clarified that the listing was decided by the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage which comprises of 24 member states. Pantun and wangkang ceremony are now added to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage that was chaired by Jamaica.
The performance of the Wangkang ceremony.
Nancy also stressed that the listing showed our country’s commitment to protecting its intangible cultural heritage. Moreover, this has indirectly raised Malaysia’s image in the eyes of the world for being one of the world’s treasures which in turn would lead to more tourists coming to our country.
She also urged all parties including the government, private sectors, NGOs, local communities and even individuals to ensure that our cultural heritage to live on and be preserved for our future generations.
With the addition of pantun and the wangkang ceremony, Malaysia now has 5 intangible cultural heritage listed by UNESCO, which are:
- Mak Yong (listed 2005)
- Dondang Sayang (listed 2018)
- Silat (listed 2019)
- Pantun (listed 2020)
- Wangkang ceremony (listed 2020)
Awesome! Let’s keep this cultural heritage alive by practising them and teaching them to the future generations. On a side note, seeing how we got 5 intangible cultural heritage recognised by UNESCO, it indirectly means that we are all men and women of culture. 
Also read: 8 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The Baba Nyonya Culture But You Should!
